The shock and confusion the Trump administration sent over the weekend was clearly a rollback, which means the president has canceled his predecessor’s orders to create two popular national monuments in California.
The White House fact sheet released Friday mentioned President Trump’s rollback of the monument designated monument, detailing the various reversals of Biden administration policies. On Saturday, the reference to the monument was deleted and there was no explanation.
This change is unclear with the fate of the Chuckwalla National Monument near Joshua Tree National Park sátítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California.
But Trump’s expectations of revoking the status of two California monuments led to immediate reactions from their supporters, including conservation and environmental groups, tribal leaders, and local and elected officials.
“Trump’s filth on Chuckwalla and Sátítim national monuments is a horrible attack on our public land system,” said Ileene Anderson, director of the California Desert Director of the California Center for Biodiversity.
“These two monuments are led by local tribes, overwhelming support from local and regional communities, including businesses and leisureists,” Anderson said. “This fighting and unreasonable action is a slap from tribes and all public land supporters.”
On February 3, Trump Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum directed his assistant secretary to “review and, where appropriate, modify all revoked public lands”, which raised expectations for potential rollbacks.
The Directive is part of an exhaustive secretary’s order called “Release American Energy,” which aims to improve resource extraction of federal land and water.
Sáttítla, which spans 224,000 acres of dense forests and pristine lakes near the Oregon border, has been explored for geothermal energy development.
South of Joshua Tree National Park, with a 640,000-acre Chuckwalla, probably under the rough desert floor, was one of the designated people to lead the monument.
“Extracting all groundwater will have a devastating impact on our region,” said Medart, a tribal engagement expert at consulting firm Onoo Po Strategies.
Supporters of two new California monuments believe that any trade-off of extraction is a bad trade-off.
“In these areas, any small amount of mineral is not worth destroying priceless wildlife habitats, sacred tribal lands and world-class recreation,” Anderson said.
The chain of events began Friday when the White House website released a fact sheet summarizing the executive order signed by Trump, revoking “a second round of harmful executive actions issued by previous administrations, continuing his efforts to reverse damage policies and restore effective administration.”
The New York Times reported in a blog post Saturday that the White House confirmed that Trump revoked President Biden’s announcement and created the two monuments. The report is not linked to a specific order from Trump. The Washington Post reported on Saturday that the White House confirmed Trump’s “plan” to cancel the order.
National Park Travelers released copies of the original fact sheet, indicating that the first of six bullet points quoted “The termination declaration declared that nearly one million acres of land constituted a new national monument, which blocked a large amount of land in economic development and energy production.” That bullet point was not on Saturday’s fact sheet.
Although the item does not name the two monuments, the figures of area roughly fit into two new monuments in California.
Attempts to change monuments in California and elsewhere are almost certain to encounter litigation, conservation and environmental organizations.
“This creates chaos and confusion directly from the Trump script,” Anderson of the Center for Biodiversity said in a follow-up email. “If Trump does place these beloved California monuments in chopping blocks, we will defend them there. The administration has seriously underestimated the public’s support for these and other protected public lands.”
During Trump’s first term, the administration reverses legal authority designated by the former monument is unclear Reduced boundaries Two monuments in Utah – Bear Ear and Grand Staircase – Escalante – and stripped of protection from marine monuments near the coast of New England to allow commercial fishing.
Litigation with reduced litigation challenges still awaits Reversed the change, And the matter has never been resolved.
California is home to 21 national monuments, more than any other state – spanning the rough spar shoreline, stately redwood woods and striking desert canyons. These include the Mount San Gabriel National Monument near Los Angeles, as well as the Snow National Monument east of the city, and the Lava Bed National Monument in the Far East of the state.
